Friday, April 9, 2010

Fittingly, the Frozen Four was played on Ford Field, home to the Detroit Lions, on Thursday. Both Wisconsin and Boston College scored the equivalent of a touchdown in their semifinal wins. The Badgers blew away RIT 8-1, while the Eagles stunned Miami 7-1.

Seven different Badgers scored goals and defenseman Brendan Smith had five assists in the romp over the Tigers, ending RIT's Cinderella run through the NCAA tournament.

In the second game, BC handed Miami, one of the top-ranked teams in the country all season long, its worst loss of the year. The Redhawks just can't seem to overcome teams from Boston in the NCAA tournament.

This all sets up a rematch of the 2006 national championship game in which Wisconsin defeated Boston College 2-1.

UND NICKNAME RETIRED
In North Dakota on Thursday, the state higher education board voted to retire the University controversial Fighting Sioux nickname. The retirement likely will come following the 2010-11 sports season. However, it appears that UND's hockey home, Ralph Engelstad Arena, which has about 3,000 Sioux logos displayed around the building, won't make any changes.

PucKato's prediction: North Dakota won't replace the nickname anytime soon and will just be North Dakota. Perhaps it will even keep the Indianhead logo, much like the state's highway signs and state-trooper cars still do.

CHEVERIE TURNS PRO
Denver goaltender and WCHA player of the year Marc Cheveriesigned with the Florida Panthers on Thursday, forgoing his senior season with the Pioneers. He is the third DU player to leave the program with college eligibility remaining.

HARRISON FASTEST SKATER?
Apparently there are some reports that Minnesota State's Zach Harrision won the fastest-skater competition at the Frozen Four Skills Competition. The only problem with those reports is that the competition will be held Friday night. My guess is that Harrison was chosen to compete in the fastest-skater competition tonight based off some practice on Thursday. Stay tuned ...

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The Free Press

Shane Frederick

Shane has been covering Minnesota State hockey, the WCHA and other college and high school hockey in the Mankato area for The Free Press since 2000. Give him a call at 507-344-6373 or drop him an email him at sfrederick@mankatofreepress.com.